Apparatus for making a felted fibrous waterproof sheet



Aug. 18, 1925.

L. KIRSCHBRAUN APPARATUS FOR MAKING A FELTED FIBROUS WATERPROOF SHEET 3 Sheets-Sheet l lib/ Leak/2,4" w- Original Filed June 15, 1920 Aug. 18, 1925.

L. KIRSCHBRAUN 4 APPARATUS FOR MAKING A FELTED FIBROUS WATERPROOF SHEET OrizinaI Filed June 15 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Aug. Is, 1925. 1,549,992

L. KIRSCH'BRAUN APPARATUS FOR MAKING A FELTED FIBROUS WATERPROOF SHEET oriflinal Filed June 5, 1920 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Patented Aug. 18, 19 25.

. UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LESTER KIRSCHBRAUN, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

APPARATUS FOR MAKING A FELTED FIBROUS WATERPROOF SHEET.

- Continuation of application Serial No. 389,219fflled l'une 15, 1920. This application flied September 17, l 1924. Serial No. 738,278.

acitizen of the United States, residing in the city of Chicago, county of Cook' and State of. Illinois, have invented certain new 1 and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Making a Felted Fibrous Waterproof Sheet, of which the following is a specification.

This ap lication is a continuation of application led by me, Serial No. 389,219 on June 15th, 1920.

This invention relates to improvements in apparatus for making felted fibrous waterroof sheets, and hasamong its salient obects to provide a novel apparatus for mak- "mg a felted or sheeted waterproof product used as roofing or covering of various kinds,

and which consists essentially of a mixture of fibre, bitumen or like binder and an emulsifying agent formed into a tough, solid, drybody; to provide an apparatus for producing a product which obviates the necessity of using as a basis, prepared felt such as is-used in asphalt shingles and similar elements; to provide apparatus for making a product which may ave a wide range as to its flexibility, rigidity, weight and toughness, and in which a substantial body portion thereof can be made from relatively cheap or waste material; to provide an apparatus for making a product of the character referred to, in which a substantial portion of the materials thereof may be such waste products as sand, sawdust, clay and the like; to provide an apparatus for making a product of the character referred to in which the mixture is fed in an aqueous solution continuously to a felting or sheet forming apparatus and there formed into a sheet, and pressed, coated, dried and cut into any desired shape or size, all as a continuous operation; and in general to provide an improved invention of the character referred to.

In the drawings: Figs. 1, 1 and 1 taken together indicate a more or less diagrammatic showing of my ap aratus.

eferrin to the drawings, 1 designates an emulsi ying tank ada ted to receive asphalt or other binder, an an emulsifying agentnsuch as clay and water. Thls tank may be of an suitable construction and is provided Wit a rotating shaft 2 driven through gears 3 and 4, leading to any source of power. The shaft 2 carries a series of arms 5 cooperating with stationar arms 6 secured to the side of the emulsi er. The otgectof this emulsifier is to form an emul- S1 68131011 of the binder and emulsifying agent such as clay, etc. In making this emulsified composition, the cla is put into the emulsifier and water gra ually added until a paste or doughy mixture is obtained. Asphalt or other pitchy waterproof binder while in a liquid condition is then slowly stirred into this paste and water is gradually added from time to time to obtain a working consistency. The water is preferably warm or hot. This mixture is thoroughl beaten up until the binder is uniformly dispersed through the emulsifying agent, the object being to reduce the binder to a very fine state. of division and thoroughly amalgamate it with the clay. It is to be understood that other emulsifying agents than cl ay, may be used, and in certain cases other binder might be used, such as asphalt, coal tar, stearine, pitches or the like.

This mixture contained in the emulsifier can be delivered to a beater 7 through pipe 8 controlled by valve 9. The beater 7 is of a construction adapted for converting fibrous stock into pulp and is provided with a suitable beating, roll or rolls 10 and 11. The ulp which I use may be made from any suita le fibrous material such as paper waste, sulphite, wood pulp, cotton waste, rags and hemp. After the fibre is beaten to a pulp, the pulp is delivered by'means of pipes 12 and 13 and pum 14 to a mixing tank or stuff chest 15. Thls tank 15 is rovided with a mechanical agitator 16 driven in such a way as to produce a thoroughly uniform composition. It will be desirable in many cases to add a filler to the mixture which may be of such relatively cheap materials as sawdust, sand, ground cork or any suitable comminuted material. It may be desirable to add more clay to the mixing chest also.

The mixture in the tank 15 or stuflt' chest is thinned to the desired consistency by adding as much water as desired through the pipe 19. The consistency of the mixture in the stufl'ed chest will depend upon the character of the product to be formed and also upon the character of the materials contained therein.

In the formation of roofing compositions, the mixture I have found in certain cases, should be sulficiently dilute to permit the fibres to flow in the water so that they will have opportunities to interlock and interlace with each other when the water is separated out. It is also very important that the materials be sufliciently mixed to insure a thorough association of the fibre with the emulsified binder and with such filler, if a filler be used. The materials in questisn should be so mixed that when in an aqueous solution they will be free of any tendency to be sticky or adhere to the machine. It may be here noted that when the emulsified composition is formed, the particles of the binder should be so thoroughly and finely dispersed through the aqueous paste that the particles of the binder will tend to be thoroughly separated from each other and surrounded by the clay and water.. The operator may ascertain that the emulsification has been suflicient by manual manipulation. If properly emulsified, it will have a smooth, soapy feeling and be free from any tendency to exhibit adhesiveness.

In the present invention the asphalt or analogous pitchy material, while in heated fluid or semi-liquid condition, is dispersed in very fine particles throughout the aqueous vehicle so that the minute particles of as phalt seem to be separated from each other and held out of contact with one another. As the expression has been used, the asphalt may be said to be in the internal phase and the vehicle in the external phase.

In any event, the mixture or matrix is non-adhesive and for exam le, can be readily washed off the hands or o machinery, with water. However, when the water is evaporated or removed, the particles of asphalt again become adhesive and sticky. Vhile it is true that the asphalt or pitch used, may be solid or semi-solid, at atmospheric temperatures,.it is in a heated, fluid or semiliquid condition while being emulsified and resumes its normal semi-solid, or solid consistency when the matrix is cold without apparently altering the dispersion of the asphalt particles so long as contained in the aqueous vehicle. It is to be noted that this matrix is of such a character that when it 1s mixed with the fibre and formed into a sheet. the asphalt undergoes no change in be of a construction similar to those used in the paper making industry, ma be a foraminated brass belt or wire, whic is trained around rollers 25 and 26. Intermediate idler rollers may be provided as desired. The upper lap of the belt travels across rollers 27 forming in eflect a table or support for the belt. At either side the screen is provided with confining belts or deckle straps 28; it being understood that these belts serve to prevent the material from flowing over the sides of the travellin screen.

fireferably spreader or distributing rolls 29 and 30 are provided and the frame spring gripped as shown at '31. As shown in Fig. 1, the apparatus is broken away to reduce the size of the drawings, the endless screen is of sufficient length to allow the desired amounts of water to drain through the screen. To facilitate the removal of the water from the sheet, I provide a plurality of suction boxes 32 and intermediate pressure rolls 33, a further suction pipe 34 may be provided to remove further water, if desired.

In forming the sheet passes over the foraminated belt or screen onto a canvas or other fabric belt 35, which is trained around a series of rolls 36 and driven from any suitable source of power. Pressure rolls 37 may also be provided. The now formed sheet a is threaded up over the belt 38 to feed rolls 39 and thence up over rolls 40 and 41 to a series of drying rolls 42. The belt 38 serves to take up any surplus moisture and it is thereafter dried. by passing it around rolls 43.

The belt 35 may be cleaned by means of rotating brushes 44 and suitable water showers 45. The belt 38 can also be cleaned by brushes 46 and jet nozzle 47. and the felt.

with delivery pipe 52 for the coating material, and presser rollers 53 which may be of any suitable construction. If granular faced roofing isb'eing formed, the coated sheet can be fed beneath hopper 54 containing suitable granular material so as to cover the face of the roofing. The sheet then coated and covered with gran'ular material is passed between presser rolls 55 and thence over cooling rolls 56 to slitting kn1ves 57 carried by roll 58. The sheet which is now severed longitudinally may be cut transversely to form shingles or shingle strips by passing through transverse knives 59 carried by rollers 60. It is to be understood, of course, that these knives and rolls are so geared as to operate synchronously. The shingles or shingle strips are then carried awa by travelling conveyor belt 61.

T e ap aratus ere shown is adapted for making s ingles or shingle strips of prepared roofing such as asphalt shingles and the like, but it is to be understood that the sheet after having been formed may be treated in any desired manner, such for example, as having a design printed thereon, etc.

In order to more readily practice the invention the following proportions of ingredients have been found satisfactory in the manufacture of fully saturated roofing To 33 parts dry weight of fibrous stock is added an emulsion composed of 55 parts by weight of asphalt emulsified with 12 parts by weight of colloidal clay contained in an aqueous vehicle. It will be understoodthat these proportions will vary depending upon the nature of the stock and the degree of saturation with asphalt desired in the finished sheet. Of course, during the sheet forming operation, the particles of binder will be distributed among the fibres in the sheet during the felting of the same. v

I claim as my invention:

1. In an apparatus for forming a waterproof felted sheet, the combination with means for emulsifying argilliferous emulsifying substance and water with a normally adhesive bitumen to form a non-adhesive Substance, of a beater for forming a fibrous ulp, a mixer communicating separately with the beater and emulsi ing means for combining the emulsion with. the fibrous pulp from the beater, means for felting the fibrous material and uniting the emulsified bitumen therewith.

2. In an apparatus for forming a Waterproof sheet, the combination with an emulsifier for producing a non-adhesive emulsion of an adhesive binder substance, of a beater for forming a fibrous pulp stock, mixing means connected with the emulsifier and beater whereby a regulated mixture of the separate ingredients is produced, a paper.

forming mechanism whereby the combined emulsion and paper pulp are formed into a continuous sheet.

3. In an apparatus for forming a waterproof sheet, the combination with an emulsifier for producing a non-adhesive emulsion of an adhesive binder substance, of a beater for forming a fibrous pulp stock, mixing means connected with the emulsifier and beater whereby a regulated mixture of the separate ingredients is produced, a paper forming mechanism whereby the combined emulsion and paper pulp are formed into a continuous single ply sheet and suction means for withdrawing the moisture therefrom.

4. In an apparatus for forming a waterproof sheet, the combination with an emulsifier for producing a non-adhesive emulsion of a relatively solid adhesive bituminous binder, of a beater for forming a fibrous pulp stock, a mixing means connected with the emulsifier and heater, means connecting said elements for introducing regulated quantities of pulp stock and emulsion to the mixing means, a paper forming mechanism connected to the mixing means whereby the combined emulsion and paper stock are formed into a continuous ply, and a suction means for withdrawing the moisture therefrom.

*5. In an apparatus for forming a waterproof sheet, the combination with an emulsifier for producing a non-adhesive emulsion of an adhesive binder substance, of abeater for forming a fibrous pulp stock, separate mixing means communicating with the emulsifier and beater whereby a regulated mixture of the separate ingredients is produced, a paper forming mechanism whereby the combined emulsion and paper pulp are formed into a continuous sheet.

6. In an apparatus for forming a waterproof felted sheet, the combination with means for emulsifying argilliferous emulsi fying substance and water with a normally adhesive bitumen to form a non-adhesive substance, of a beater for forming a. fibrous pulp,- means for combining the emulsion with the fibrouspul means for felting the fibrous material-an uniting the emulsified bitumen therewith.

LESTER KIRSCHBRAUN. 

